Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Cuts His Salary to California's Salary Minimum Wage - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 November 2021 / 2,637 Views
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a letter to all employees has said he will be cutting his pay to $62,500, which is the minimum wage someone can earn in California who are earning a salary. He will also not be taking any bonuses or granted any equity.
This appears to be in response to the multiple lawsuits against the company following reports of sexual misconduct and discrimination.
"I have asked our Board of Directors to reduce my total compensation until the Board has determined that we have achieved the transformational gender-related goals and other commitments described above," said Kotick in the letter to employees.
"Specifically, I have asked the Board to reduce my pay to the lowest amount California law will allow for people earning a salary, which this year is $62,500. To be clear, this is a reduction in my overall compensation, not just my salary. I am asking not to receive any bonuses or be granted any equity during this time."
Activision Blizzard is making five new commitments to tackle the ongoing reports of sexual misconduct and discrimination. You can check them out below:
- We are launching a new zero-tolerance harassment policy company-wide – In the past, when we discovered and substantiated harassment, we terminated some employees and provided verbal or written warnings or different disciplinary actions to others. In retrospect, to achieve our goals for workplace excellence, this approach is no longer adequate. We need tougher rules and consistent monitoring across the entire company to make sure reports are being handled correctly and discipline is appropriate and swift.
As a result, we are implementing a zero-tolerance policy across Activision Blizzard that will be applied consistently. Our goal is to have the strictest harassment and non-retaliation policies of any employer, and we will continue to examine and tighten our standards to achieve this goal everywhere we do business.
Any Activision Blizzard employee found through our new investigative processes and resources to have retaliated against anyone for making a compliance complaint will be terminated immediately.
In many other instances of workplace misconduct, we will no longer rely on written warnings: termination will be the outcome, including in most cases of harassment based on any legally protected category.
Future employment contracts and equity awards will be clear: termination for these reasons will result in the immediate forfeiture of future compensation.
We also want to ensure that employees who file reports are encouraged, protected, and heard. For all reports of harassment and retaliation, we will investigate the allegation and whether the Activision Blizzard personnel who received the report of such behavior took the appropriate steps to protect the integrity of our compliance processes.
There may be some places around the world where local law may restrict some of these measures. In those cases, we will apply the highest permissible standards and the strongest possible discipline. - We will increase the percentage of women and non-binary people in our workforce by 50% and will invest $250 million to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent –Today, approximately 23% of our global employee population identifies as women or non-binary. Building on the success that King and other business units have achieved, we will seek to increase our percentage of women and non-binary professionals by approximately 50% – to more than one-third across the entire company – within the next five years and hopefully faster. Each franchise team, business unit, and functional area will be expected to have plans to help fulfill this ambition.
With respect to diversity, while we perform better than our peers with 30% of our U.S. workforce from diverse or under-represented communities, broadening this progress will continue to be a significant focus of mine as well as company, business unit, and franchise leadership.
To further this commitment, we’ll be investing an additional $250 million over the next 10 years in initiatives that foster expanded opportunities in gaming and technology for under-represented communities. This commitment includes inspiring diverse talent to pursue career opportunities in gaming through an ABK Academy that includes partnerships with colleges and technical schools serving under-represented communities, mentorships for participants, and a rotating apprenticeship program that leads to game development jobs, similar to the programs we began with the United Negro College Fund and Management Leadership for Tomorrow. We will also provide learning, development, and advanced degree opportunities for current employees to increase the number of women and those from under-represented communities in leadership positions across the company and in our industry.
In the coming months, Brian Bulatao, Julie Hodges, and I will share details about how we are operationalizing these goals and implementing and measuring this expanded investment. - Based on feedback from employees, we are waiving required arbitration of sexual harassment and discrimination claims – For any Activision Blizzard employee who chooses not to arbitrate an individual claim of sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination, or related retaliation arising in the future, the company will waive any obligation to do so.
- We will continue to increase visibility on pay equity – As described in the recent note from our President, Daniel Alegre, and our Chief Administrative Officer, Brian Bulatao, the company continues to focus on pay equity for employees. In fact, our U.S. analysis showed that women at the company on average earned slightly more than men for comparable work in 2020. To ensure transparency on our continuing commitment to pay equity, we will report these results annually.
- We will provide regular progress updates – We will be monitoring the progress of our business units, franchise teams, and functional leaders with respect to workplace initiatives and we will provide a status report quarterly. We also will be adding a dedicated focus on this vital work in our annual report to shareholders and in our annual ESG report with information on gender hiring, diversity hiring, and workplace progress.
"There’s a tendency when companies face challenging moments to lose sight of what makes them special, what makes them great," Kotick added. "You are a truly special group of people who – through passion, conviction, drive, and determination – keep accomplishing extraordinary things. While the critical work ahead won’t be easy, I am confident our collective commitment to workplace excellence will be achieved.
"I truly wish not a single employee had had an experience at work that resulted in hurt, humiliation, or worse – and to those who were affected, I sincerely apologize. You have my commitment that we will do everything possible to honor our values and create the workplace every member of this team deserves.
"I am grateful for how much people care about this company, and I appreciate that many past and present employees have reached out with their thoughts, concerns, complaints, and suggestions. Your experiences, so courageously shared, serve as reason and reminder for why it is so important for us to do better. And we will."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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He's been earning 10's of millions (if not more) for many years now. He likely has so much money saved up at this point that his family could not work for several generations and still not be out of money. Basically this means absolutely nothing. Oh and the dude has a 7 billion net worth so I'm likely grossly underestimating how much he makes a year.
7 billion?! Holy crap. He probably got bonuses of several hundred million while laying off dozens of employees.
Yup. This is a purely symbolic move to mitigate the shitshow.
Yeah, he'll now be radically reduced to making only triple my annual income for a year or two, on top of already being a multi-millionaire. I totally feel his pain here. Nobody buys into lame PR stunts like this. Just. Resign. It's a lot easier than stressing out about how to remain in power when nobody wants you there.
If he earns no new stock options, etc., this year... but if this stunt helps the stock price and helps make stock options he's still holding from previous years worth more, he might be enriched more than if he had been given options this year, too. I don't know that he's still holding options from past years, but it's a good bet (since there are minimum holding periods before you can redeem them).
More PR stunts to divert attention from their real issues.
Minimum wage is 62500 in California? Holy shit, I have an above average salary in one of the most developed countries in the world and I don't even make that amount of money...
Cost of living there is like 2-3 times higher than it is where I live (Missouri). That's what happens when taxes are insanely high and the government spends it on stupid or unnecessary things. Also why people are leaving California. They lost electoral votes for the first time ever this census, and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future as people move to less tax-heavy states.
hes already made his millions so no one should praise him
What a complete joke! Zero respect for this man... non-binary people???? how about hiring people based off their talents and qualifications, opposed to sex and race.
Depends on the company but yes you can have female and non-binary talented people.
"non-binary people????" Yeah, fuck those people right?! /s I mean, what is your point by saying that with bunch of question marks? Just because you don't understand something that doesn't fit into "mah arbitrary traditional western values" doesn't mean it is without merit and is some kind of agenda. What is the agenda? What's being pushed? Yes, the grand, evil illuminati conspiracy of... flips through notes recognizing people who don't fit into traditional gender conformity....?
you're absolutely right, if they want to hire 1,000 more women right now, it means if you are a man don't even bother applying to work there, you're 1001 on the list
it is 100 percent being done at the expense of talent and qualifications, imagine asking people their sexual preferences before hiring them... crazy world going backwards
Bobby Kotick has become a corporate hack just trying to hold on to his 7 billion dollars in assets and 200 million dollar per year salary
That is false.
Encouraging Women/LGBTQI/People with disabilities means that they are seeing a shortfall in a demographic... Either the company has a stigma or that entire industry has a stigma that keeps those individuals away from applying.
That doesn't mean someone fresh off the field who is a woman will gain preference over a man with decades worth of experience and qualifications, far from it.
Works same in the fire service... Those of colour, women, LGBTQI have a "stronger preference" in applications here, but that doesn't mean they are guaranteed a job.
If you have the skills and qualifications, you will always be put first, unless your job title doesn't mandate those skill sets.
This fake rage is absolutely baffling.
Good. There should be a quote.
Obviously some statistical analysis had been done on those who are proficient in certain fields and have found that they are likely disadvantaged in the job market.
You see... And I don't expect someone like yourself to understand this (And is something I learned in my Diploma of Community Services), but there is certainly a need for a thing called "equity" which is propping up of disadvantaged demographics so they have equal opportunities to the rest of the population.
Otherwise they tend to be looked overlooked, fall through the cracks and fall into menial jobs that they aren't proficient in.
Plus mixing of different demographics can change the culture of a work environment to be a more inclusive, less toxic as the tolerance for bigotry and abuse is significantly lessened... Resulting in more productivity.
I get it though, you are against change and giving everyone a fair go, regardless of who they are. It's a normal reaction towards things you don't understand.
False. You have misconstrued my statements.
I am saying I would be perfectly okay for there to be gender quotas for medical school.
Equity is only rooted in hatred and hostility, because people are upset that their perceived "lessers" are getting the same opportunities they are.
Time for those individuals to grow up I am afraid.
No. I don't hate men. Don't put words in my mouth.
No, that's not even remotely good enough, because this guy already has a shitload of money to begin with, investments in other companies and going by his age, likely a bigass pension scheme to boot.
he has more than enough money to last him a lifetime, and he's doing this because he thinks it will make him look understandable.
Just fucking fire him already, because he hasn't learned his god damn lesson at all.
I wish we had a modern French revolution, where the rich were brought out, kicking and screaming.
The thing is, way back then it was a massive wake up call, that the poor and middle class got poorer and the rich got richer, so back then the only way to sort it out was to literally rob and dismantle what the rich had.
I don't think the rich should be murdered over it, but I do think they should have their lot meted out, because it's clearly reaching a boiling point in general society, that we're losing money, earnings and things generally becoming more expensive (why do you think those on PC are super keen on NFT's and crypto, because it's a currency they can amass and control, without the rich phifering their share).
Good decision but yes won't really affect his pocket for a long time.
Cut to next year when he announces that Activision Blizzard has achieved it's transformational gender-related goals ahead of schedule and he can therefore resume collecting his previously massively inflated salary.
Interesting. Even I'll be earning more than this guy now.
The guy is an already made billionaire. He could retire tomorrow and earn nothing. This was a "too late" move, the guy should have taken a pay cut a long time again.
Doesn't mean shit if that money isn't going to employees.
let me guess since I cant be bothered to read the full article :)
Less salary but increased bonus
Awww, poor Bobby. Now donate your shares and refuse to accept annual bonuses, that's including your golden parachute if you decide to ditch the company. It's such a PR move. CEO salary is peanuts compared to other incentives. It's equivalent of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfXRrYWmQ_g
Obviously he didn't
bonuses will be huge.
That would likely increase the wage of all the employees by less than 1k per year.
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